The Key of Kilenya (36 page)

“
Jake!
” Amberly squealed. “You’re
back!” She jumped off the swing and ran at him, almost tripping
over her own feet. -

Jacob laughed and dropped to his knees,
picking her up as soon as she reached him. He held onto her
tightly, burying his face in her curls.

“I’ve gotta show you what we made in the
sandbox!” Amberly said, squirming in his arms. “And Sarah fell and
got a cut on her knee!”

“She did?” Jacob said, thinking about the
neighbor’s daughter. “You’ll have to show me when I see her next.”
He put her down. “Where’s Matt?”

“Inside!” Turning around, she ran toward the
house. “Jake’s back! Mommy! Daddy! Jake’s back!”

“Wait, Mom and Dad are home? Cool!”

Jacob had barely made it to the back porch
when his mom flew through the door and hugged him, nearly knocking
him over. His dad was right behind her and wrapped his arms around
both of them. When his parents finally released him, Matt tackled
him, knocking him to the lawn.

Jacob laughed. “Ouch! Uncle! Uncle!”

It took a minute of good-natured shoving and
pushing to get up again, but soon they were walking back to the
house, Matt on one side of him and his mom on the other.

“Man, I’ve got a lot to tell you guys,” Jacob
said.

His mom looked at him, an intense expression
crossing her face. “We were so, so worried about you, young man.
You are not to leave this house for a week. And don’t you dare
think about doing something like that again.”

Jacob looked at her, shocked. Getting
grounded right now would be really bad. What about Aloren? “But I
have—” Then he saw the smile creeping across her face, and relief
washed over him. “Oh, good. I’m glad you’re teasing.”

His parents looked at him. “We were very
worried,” his dad said. “And we want to hear all about it as soon
as possible.”

His mom nodded. “It sounds like you became
quite the hero while we were gone.”

“I’ll tell you everything. It might take a
while, but I’ll definitely tell you everything.” He looked at his
family. “It’s so good to be home.”

Jacob paused before entering the house,
running his hand over the wood of the back door. A large grin
crossed his face when he felt a familiar warmth.

Matt jabbed him in the side with his elbow.
“Dude, what are you doing?”

Jacob shook his head. “Oh, nothing,” he said,
satisfied.

###

The Kilenya Series Continues:

The Ember Gods
(Kilenya Series, 2. Release: September 2011)

August Fortress (Kilenya Series, 3. Release:
January 2012)

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About the
Author:

Andrea is an avid reader and outdoor-er, who
loves traveling. She and her husband (AKA Mr. Darcy) were married a
few months ago, and have settled near a river that someday will
probably overflow and flood their house.

It took her nearly a lifetime to do so (nine
years), but she graduated with a bachelor of science degree in
Communications Disorders from Brigham Young University. She plans
to open a flying bicycle shop eventually, but for the time being,
she is happy teaching orchestra to elementary students.

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Pronunciation Guide

For those difficult to say names and words

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Akeno: ah-KAY-no

Aldo: ALL-doe

Aloren: ah-LOR-en

Ara Liese: AR-uh Lees

Arien: AR-i-en

Brojan: BRO-zhun

Canush: KAN-ush

Danilo: dan-EE-lo

Duana: do-AH-nuh

Dunsany: DUN-suh-ni

Eachan: EE-kun

Eetu: EE-tu

Eklaron: EK-la-RON

Ezra: EZ-ruh

Gallus: GA-ll-us (NOT like tall, ball, etc,
but like CALifornia)

Gevkan: GEV-kun

Jaegar: JAY-gar

Kaede: ka-ay-day

Kaith: KAY-th

Kaiya: KIGH-ya

Kenji: KEN-ji

Kilenya: Keh-LEN-yuh

Lahs: Law-s

Lasia: LAY-zhyuh

Lirone: LEE-row-n

Lorkon: LOR-kan

Makalo: muh-KA-low

Maivoryl: MY-vor-ul

Molg: molg. :-)

Rezend: RE-zend

Shiengol: SHEEN-gull

Troosinal: TROO-si-nal

Wurby: wur-bi

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Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I want
to thank my family for their friendship and for putting up with me
while I’ve made this dream become a reality. I love you all! Thanks
especially to my husband, and to Dad, Mom, Lisa, Daniel, and Josh
for reading, believing in me, and for your comments and
suggestions. I couldn’t ask for a better critique group than my own
family.

Second, I have to thank my amazing friends,
Tristi Pinkston and Jenni James. For supporting me, being there for
me when I've needed it, and gently encouraging me onward. I love
you two so very much! Trist, you are the super-coolest world’s best
editor. :-)

Thank you to BJ Rowley for his assistance on
this project. I'll forever be grateful to you for what I learned
from you and for what you did for me. A huge and heartfelt thanks
to James Curwen for his hours put into the cover for The Key of
Kilenya, and for making my monsters come to life with his
illustrations. Thank you also to my friends over the past few years
who have been monumental in my decision to become a writer, or who
have assisted me with the writing in some way: Schaara Bradley,
Sheena Burns, Brianna Bills, Becky Bush, Jared Dickson, Ron and
Charles, the CHQ NOC engineers (Jesse, Craig, Daniel and Ron), my
supervisors (Dave, Stew and Elaine), and Broalt and LeShandra
Spraguelor.

Next, I’d like to thank my beta readers,
because without their comments and suggestions, The Key of Kilenya
wouldn't have ever been published. Lon Pearson, Jenni Goodman,
Megan Taylor, Kevin Bush, Millie and Jensen, Debbie West, Lani
Nelson, my friends/readers from Authonomy: Jenni James, Jeff, Dave,
and Stella. Appreciation to Margo Hammeren, Chris Olsen, their
kids, and everyone else on my parents’ lists who’ve helped and
supported me—I hate not being able to mention you all by name (that
would take up at least twelve pages) but know that I love and
appreciate what you’ve done for me.

My advanced orchestra students from my first
year of teaching also need to be mentioned: Allison, Megan,
Braeden, Levi, Noah, Lizzy, Savannah, Olivia, Katie, Kim, and
Haylie. Thanks, guys, for your ideas for artwork, my series, and
your enthusiasm for this book! (Don’t forget to practice!)

Gratitude also goes to my brother Mike, to
Becky Kendall and Kendall Teichert for the sweat and blood they put
into helping me get through that last awful,
Leaves-a-Bad-Taste-in-Your-Mouth math class—Becky, especially, for
dealing with my day-dreaming about getting published when I
should’ve been doing homework.

And a big “I love you” to Steve and Mardi
Nielsen—my adopted grandparents—for their loving support and
friendship, and for giving me the time I needed to write and edit
this book while staying with them.

Thanks to Gavin Cox and Glenn Pearson for
being the world’s most stupendous, fabulous, fantastic and talented
photographers, Marc and Becky Bule for the hours upon hours of
late-night conversations, suggestions, and support, the Drycreek
S.S. group for their continual friendship, love, and encouragement
(next time I see you I’ll make sure to be toting a really big purse
and will leave it where you can find it), the Saturday Second
Shift-ers for praying for me, believing in me, and being there for
me.

And to all my friends and family—thank you
so much for your support, excitement, and help. I love you all!

And last, I express my gratitude to the
people who invented music, string cheese, dried pears, the English
muffin (toasted, of course), and butter—without which this book
might never have been published. (Or written!)